Dr. Aimee C. Kimball has a PhD specializing in Sport Psychology and is the go-to Mental Training Consultant in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area. Dr. Kimball works with professional, collegiate, and high school athletes in a variety of sports. She is the Director of Player and Team Development for the New Jersey and Binghamton Devils, helping the players develop a successful mentality and the teams develop a championship culture. She works closely with the coaches as well as the development and scouting staffs. Dr. Kimball was the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Mental Training Consultant for a decade and was part of both the 2009 and 2016 Stanley Cup championships. She has also served as the mental training consultant for Duquesne University, Saint Francis University, and Sewickley Academy and has previously assisted the Pittsburgh Steelers in analyzing potential draft picks. Since 2004, Dr. Kimball has worked with over 40 high schools, 11 colleges, and 6 professional sports teams.

Dr. Kimball has worked with large and small corporations to help develop a culture of success, transition through mergers, and identify a plan for accomplishing company goals. She has worked with the pharmaceutical industry, investment banking firms, construction companies, banks, and several executive groups such as YPO. She also has inside knowledge of family businesses and the challenges faced in this unique environment.

Before founding KPEX Consulting, Aimee spent 9 years as the Director of Mental Training at UPMC Center for Sports Medicine. She received a PhD from the University of Tennessee where she specialized in sport psychology, a Masters in Sports Behavior and Performance from Miami University (Ohio) and an undergraduate psychology degree from the Pennsylvania State University. She worked in the athletic departments at both Tennessee and Miami where she assisted with life skills development of student-athletes. She is an Association of Applied Sport Psychology Certified Consultant (CMPC), and is a member of the American Psychological Association, the United States Olympic Committee’s Sport Psychology Registry, and the USA Swimming Sports Medicine Network.

Dr. Kimball has been a resource for numerous media outlets including: Men’s Health Magazine, Runner’s World, various local and national newspapers, ESPN, NPR, and news broadcasts across the country.

Dr. Kimball is dedicated to helping athletes, coaches, corporate leaders, and other performers to achieve success in sport and life. She takes an honest approach in working with you to improve your mental game. Supportive and genuine, she knows how to teach you the skills necessary to consistently be at your best. More than just performance-focused, Aimee wants you to enjoy what you are doing.

My Philosophy

I focus on peak performance. Psychology has a bad rep and it’s often assumed that you’ll be laying on a couch talking about how bad your life is and everything that makes you miserable. A) I don’t have a couch, B) I’m not a licensed psychologist so I don’t deal with disorders, C) I won’t let you complain (too much anyway). It’s good to get all the negative stuff out of your head and I’m here to listen, but I try to focus on how to make your situation better. We’ll talk about what’s wrong but, more importantly, we’ll focus on what’s in your control and work on throwing out what’s not. My role is to give you a different perspective and not let you hold yourself back.

You can pick up a sport psychology book and it will tell you how you “should” think. I don’t believe everyone should or can think the same way. I try to understand how you are wired and go from there. It’s ridiculous to say to a worrier “don’t think about it, it’s not a big deal”. That’s who you are and how you think. Instead, I let you worry, but I teach you to control those thoughtsand choose when it’s ok to overthink and how to put unproductive thoughts to the side.

I don’t want to have to work with you the rest of your life. Bad business model, I know. It’s not that I don’t want to see you, it’s that I want to teach you the skills to be mentally tough so if you are challenged in any area of your life you know how to fix it on your own. Every now and then you may need some fine tuning or just a neutral person to talk to, but overall, I want you to be self-sufficient when it comes to your mental game.

I enjoy working with teams and business organizations. I am fascinated by the ever-changing dynamics and appreciate the challenge of getting everyone on the same page. Whether it’s sports teams or corporate groups, I can help you to achieve your goals together and limit the daily drama. Individuals can talk to me behind the scenes and leaders can use me as a sounding board to assess their culture and make it the best it can be.

I could go on, but hopefully you get it by now: I’m a positive person but realistic in the way I work with people. I work with human beings that don’t all think the same way and that aren’t mentally perfect 100% of the time. I try to optimize your strengths, improve your weaknesses, and help to give you the skills and knowledge needed to consistently think in ways that will enhance your performance.